Project Jeremy

On a spring day three years ago, two editors at Bicycling's Emmaus, Pennsylvania, office performed one of the most common and satisfying rituals of the sport: They introduced a friend to cycling. None of us could have predicted what happened next.

Jeremy Katz was overweight, unhappy and sluggish when we took him on his first ride. At 35, _5-foot-6 and around 190 pounds, he was in the worst shape of his life. "I was constantly tired," he remembers. "And I was suffering one illness or cold after another. My cholesterol and blood pressure were alarmingly high. I looked terrible. I felt bitter--and old." But within three months, Jeremy progressed from toodling around the block on a cruiser to logging 200-mile weeks on our group rides. More important: His life improved right along with his cycling. "I had been an old father to my son--grumpy, always ill, and we rarely played," Jeremy says. "Today, I'm older but I'm a younger father and husband. Compared to who I was before, I have boundless amounts of energy and enthusiasm. I'm happy."

His hyper-speed ascension from wheelsucker to hammer was like a highlight reel for the midlife discovery of cycling. And that was the problem. Jeremy's skills were still those of the rank neophyte. He made all the dumb beginner mistakes, but at lead-pack velocity. In an 18-month period, he put himself in the hospital three times. First he cracked a collarbone trying to avoid a van. About nine months later, he skidded in a turn and ended up wearing a rigid cervical collar for six weeks while his broken neck healed. Nine months after that, back on the bike, a pothole sent him to the ICU with the other collarbone broken, two cracked ribs and a punctured lung. Nobody--not his wife, his son, his friends, not even his cycling mentors--wanted him to get back on a bike. We even recommended running.

Then we realized that the answer lay in the problem: We needed to develop his novice riding skills at the same hyper-speed level his fitness had grown. So we began Project Jeremy, an intensive program that focused on the four weaknesses that were keeping our eager pupil, like all beginners, from riding at his best.

The 190-pound Katz was a soft-in-the-middle desk jockey before he took to the bike.

1.GET THE RIGHT BIKE

When Jeremy decided to buy a bike of his own, he borrowed bikes from his friends for test rides. Smart idea. Unfortunately, he fell in love with the look and style of a race bike owned by one of our group's most experienced and skilled riders. It was a bike built for speed-of-thought line changes, aggressive maneuvering in corners and in crowded packs, and turbo-booster sprints--all great characteristics, when under the control of a savvy rider who takes pleasure in torturing the pack and battling for every town sign. Piloted by Jeremy, the inappropriate bike felt exceedingly twitchy and eternally unstable. And when Jeremy hit a pothole or went wide on a curve and needed to adjust, the quickness of the bike worsened the situation: Its lightning-fast response, rather than giving him the means to extricate himself, plunged him into chaos before he could correct the situation. "Every little bump seemed as if it would throw me off the bike," he admits now.

To some extent, all of us cyclists are delusional when it comes to our riding style: There's the way we want to ride and there's the reality of how we ride. Our recommendation isn't to ignore your imagination. For all the real physical benefit cycling bestows, for those of us with full-time jobs and a calendar packed with family obligations, the sport is at least in part a fantasy activity as well. Your bike helps you dream and escape. But if you ignore the reality of how you ride, you'll never quite be comfortable, happy or safe.

We made Jeremy sell his ultra-reactive race bike and put him on an Orbea Orca. It gives him the snappy acceleration and sporty feel he yearns for, yet, because it's designed to accommodate twisting, rough European roads and the rigors of long stage races, is one of the most stable and comfortable pro-level bikes. "Now I feel more secure," he says. "I'm comfortable lifting my eyes and letting the road take care of itself."

Assess Yourself

The test for this is so easy that it's a cliché: The best bike for you disappears. To determine if you can achieve this sensation on your bike, think about how you feel in corners:

In a turn, you should feel as if you're flowing water. Whether your style is a lazy river or babbling rapids, there should be a sense of ease about the turn. You shouldn't feel that you have to muscle the bike into a corner as if you're moving furniture, or that you need to tend to it like a ferret on a leash.

Transform Yourself

The geometry that determines how a bike handles is complicated and multilayered. For instance, it's generally correct that race bikes have head-tube angles of 73 to 75 degrees to allow for quick turns and line changes. But this characteristic is also dependent on factors such as fork rake (how straight or curvy, or otherwise offset, a fork is), the height of the bottom bracket, and even to some degree the height of the tires. Instead of slogging through the math, put your potential bikes through these two simple tests to find out if they match your style:

1. Check wheel flop. Stand beside a bike and hold it upright with one hand on the rear of the saddle. Walk forward, pushing the bike. It's counter_intuitive, but usually a bike that feels like it has a floppy front wheel at slow speeds gains stability as it gains speed. A bike that tracks easily will react more quickly to input as it gains speed.

2. Check frame sink. Holding a bike upright, slowly turn the handlebar and watch for the frame to drop slightly. In general, a bike with more frame sink requires more physical input from the rider to change lines or steer.

Find Your Bike

If you are Cautious or Novice

More Flop or More Sink Means Your Bike Will Feel: stable at speed, reliable in corners, not easily knocked off line

Less Flop or Less Sink Means Your Bike Will Feel: twitchy, wobbly in corners, too quick to be controlled

If you are Aggressive or Experienced

More Flop or More Sink Means Your Bike Will Feel: sluggish from side to side, resistant to line changes

Less Flop or Less Sink Means Your Bike Will Feel: responsive, swift to change lines

2. MAKE YOUR BIKE FIT

Getting the right bike is only the first step in the process. After we had selected a size that we knew could be adjusted to accommodate Jeremy's body both vertically and laterally, we went to an expert to hone the fit. Tom Kellogg, of Spectrum Cycles in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, watched Jeremy pedal his Orbea on a stationary trainer. "How are your knees?" _Kellogg asked as he kept a watchful eye on our perspiring project. "How's your back? Your feet?"

Kellogg takes no body measurements. "Your inseam doesn't tell me how you sit on a bike," he says. Instead, he relies on discerning eyes, three decades of fitting amateur and pro cyclists to custom-made bikes, and input from the rider. Jeremy had no idea how a bike should feel, but he did know that when he rode he _almost constantly felt an unnerving amount of road chatter, strain in his back and knees, and the sensation that the bike wanted to push out away from him. "Too much weight over the front tire," Kellogg explained, "and there's enough discomfort to be dangerously distracting." He moved Jeremy's saddle toward the rear of the bike, raised the hoods, and recommended a new stem with zero rise and a handlebar with a shorter reach to the drops. Jeremy's position on the bike immediately appeared more neutral, and his center of gravity was noticeably more rearward.

Assess Yourself

Unless you've had a professional fitting that recommends a deviation from the norms, your position on the bike should be as close to neutral as possible. Here's the consensus on what a neutral position looks like:

When you're seated, the angle of your knee should be between 25 and 35 degrees when the pedal is at its lowest point. Or try this very accurate ballpark: With your shoes off, your heel should just brush the pedal at its lowest point.

With your hands on the brake hoods, the handlebar should obscure the front hub, or be just slightly in front of it, when you look straight down.

With the pedals horizontal, a string dropped from the bony point just below your kneecap should bisect the pedal axle.

With your hands on the hoods and your elbows slightly bent, the angle formed by your arms and torso should be about 90 degrees.

With your hands in the drops, there should be about a 1cm gap between your knees and elbows at their closest position.

Transform Yourself

Work with your local bike shop to achieve a neutral fit, then visit an expert to dial in your bike for your body's specific quirks. Whether it's with an old master like Kellogg or a high-tech computer scan, a pro fitting will make you more comfortable, safer and faster. Some of our favorite fitters:

A bike-shop employee trained and licensed by Serotta Cycles measures you and tests your flexibility, then fine-tunes your fit on a stationary bike that can adjust anything, from tube angles to stem rise, to try out various fits.

Based on a study that ran 60,000 tests on 4,500 cyclists (with continual updates added to the database), this system measures your body and your current bike, then matches you to similar riders and recommends a position.

For most of his life, Jeremy regarded his body as a life-support system for his brain. Sports were for jocks, and he wasn't one, so he never developed any athletic instincts. That had to change. We knew that Joe Dattoli of Fitquest in Easton, Pennsylvania, an isshinryu karate instructor, personal trainer and expert mountain biker, could teach Jeremy about balance. After a quick diagnosis--light maneuvers such as squats, single-leg standing drills and ball tosses on a Bosu (an inflated rubber dome)--Dattoli pinpointed the primary need: core stability.

"Cyclists forget that the bike is an extension of your body, that it responds to your whole body, not just your hands and feet," says Dattoli. "Your body has to be stable enough to maintain your center of gravity while you move your arms and legs, but not so rigid that any little surprise on the road bucks you off." When he started, Jeremy struggled with both. Dattoli prescribed a series of katas--movements that challenge coordination and balance--and plenty of core muscle training, using wobbly surfaces such as the Bosu. The results were amazing. "The body responds relatively quickly to stability training," says Dattoli. "When Jeremy first started, he couldn't even stand on the Bosu without wobbling and falling off. Just six weeks later, he can do jump squats on it. If you can find your center and stabilize yourself during these dynamic moves, the bike is no problem. As Jeremy becomes more stable, his body will naturally react to the flow of the road. He'll also be less likely to panic, freeze up and crash when problems arise."

Our experimental skill sponge agrees: "I never knew what it meant to feel balanced and centered. Now I have a much better sense of how to manipulate and maintain my center of gravity. I ride lighter on my hands, especially descending, and use my hips to stabilize and control the bike. Because I feel more in control, I'm less inclined to reach for the brakes when I shouldn't."

Assess Yourself

Stand with feet together. Extend arms to each side. Place heel of one foot on the inner thigh of the other leg, just above the knee. Tighten your core (abs, sides, back) for stability. Close your eyes. How long can you balance?

Less than 5 seconds: Any bump or swerve can send you sprawling.

5 to 9: Okay when things are smooth, but less stable when surprised.

10 to 14: You stay centered almost all of the time.

15 to 19: You're a flamingo--you could sleep on your bike!

20-plus: Like the eye of the hurricane, you are centered amidst chaos.

Transform Yourself

To improve stability, do 2 sets of these exercises twice a week.

With feet together and arms to the sides, lift one leg, with the thigh parallel to the floor and the knee bent about 30 degrees. Perform a squat, back and down about 45 degrees. Return to start. Do 8 to 10 reps, then switch sides.

Assume a push-up position, with your right hand on a phone book. Lower your chest toward the floor until your arms are bent 90 degrees. When you press back up, bring the left hand onto the phone book and the right to the floor (on the right side of the book). Repeat, alternating which hand is on the book, for 5 to 6 reps per side.

4. CONTROL YOUR BIKE

Cyclists eternally hone their ability at skills such as cornering and staying stable when bumped or crowded--there's always something new to learn. But it shouldn't take an eternity to master the basics. Within a few seasons, most riders are fundamentally sound. Unfortunately, we didn't think Jeremy had that long. Based on his history, we figured we had six months at the most. So we sent him to a one-day skills clinic in Wheaton, Maryland, run by Artemis Racing (artemisracing.org). Super Dave Osborne, an elite master's racer, led the class through drills on bunnyhopping, cornering and riding while being pushed. In the relative safety of a high school parking lot, Osborne instructed the students to roll down a hill and carve around a cement island. "You're not looking through the corner," he shouted at Jeremy. "Look through and lean!" In the bump-and-ride drill, Jeremy was paired with BJ Basham, an aptly named expert coach with The Peaks Coaching Group (peakscoachinggroup.com). Basham tested Jeremy with a few light taps as they rode side by side, then leaned in like Robbie McEwen and tossed an elbow. Wide-eyed, Jeremy sprang off Basham, countersteered, and miraculously stayed up. "Nice," said Basham. Jeremy beamed.

Assess Yourself

An easy, accurate test of bike handling is the ability to ride in a straight line, says Osborne. On a wide, straight road with little traffic, ride along the white line about 10 to 15 feet in front of a friend, who should periodically shout "Look," and raise his right, left or neither hand. Try it three times. If, on average, when you look back your bike moves off line:

An inch or so: You are a superior bike handler.

3-6 inches: You drift from your line more than you think.

7+ inches: You don't drift--you veer, and often compound the mistake by hastily overcorrecting.

Transform Yourself

Osborne recommends these two drills as a simple way to improve your bike handling:

The Snail Time Trial:

On a straight road or in a parking lot, pick an end point about 100 yards away. Without putting a foot down, and riding as straight as possible (no seesawing the front wheel back and forth for balance), see how slowly you can ride to the finish line. You can scrub speed with your brakes, as long as you stay in a straight line. Aim for 3 mph or less--the less momentum you have, the more control you will need. It's more fun when done with a friend, but you can also solo against the clock on your speedometer.

The Water Bottle Pick-Up:

In a grassy, flat area (such as a soccer field), place a large water bottle on the ground. Approach it in a straight line, lean over and try to pick it up. When you can do this successfully, try placing the water bottle back down on the ground as you ride, circling around and picking it up again. When you start, you can fill the bottle about halfway for more stability, making it less likely to tip when you muff a pick-up or wobble as you set it down. Try it with less and less water, until you can easily pick up and gently replace the bottle. Master this, and you can stay upright in most emergency situations.

Did we succeed?

At the risk of jinxing our proud project, the proof is in the numbers: By the summer of 2006, Jeremy had gone 14 months without a hospital visit. For another view, we conducted an anonymous poll of the members of Jeremy's riding group, asking them to rate his skill.

2005 SCORE / 2006 SCORE

1) His line while in a pack is:

1 = most erratic
10 = most smooth

6.4 / 6.8

To improve: Remember that every movement in a pack should flow rather than jerk. Anything sudden is disruptive and dangerous. Think of a mother duck leading her brood.

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